The following is a
transcription of the actual Account of the Parish of Lochcarron
from the second or new Statistical Account of Strathcarron (dated September1836).

PARISH OF LOCHCARRON

PRESBYTERY
OF LOCHCARRON, SYNOD OF GLENELG

THE REV. JOHN
MACKENZIE, MINISTER*

* Drawn up
by a probationer of the Church of Scotland.

I.
TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY

Name
- LOCHCARRON is so called from
an arm of the sea of the same name by which it is intersected,
and which derives its name from the river Carron (signifying
in Gaelic a winding stream) which falls into it.

Extent - It is 25 miles long. To its breadth it
is difficult to apply any scale of measurement. From its eastern
extremity to the end of the loch (about 15 miles) it is upwards
of 10 miles broad. It is then considerably narrowed. On the south
side, the parish extends along the loch for about 4 miles. On
the north, it consists of an elevated ridge, extending along
the coast for nearly ten miles, and seldom exceeding 2 miles
in breadth. Including Courthill, situated in Kishorn, within
the parish of Applecross, Lochcarron may contain 250 square miles.

Topographical
Appearances
- The entrance
to the parish from the east is a glen bounded by hills varying
in height, and stretching out into heathy and uncultivated moors.
As you pass along, the scene becomes more interesting. The bottom
of the valley is watered by the Carron, which, by the accession
of several tributary brooks, is increased to a considerable stream.
The banks are diversified with portions of cultivated ground,
and the hills on both sides present pasture of a superior description.

Not far distant, along
the base of a hill facing the north, rising almost perpendicularly,
covered with natural wood of birch, alder, and wild ash, you
see Lochdowal in the Carron adorned with tbree islands, skirted
with ash, oak, and underwood, and, farther on, you have Lochcarron,
which presents the appearance of a fresh water lake. The glen
widens as you approach the loch, and opens into a valley equal
in extent to any on the coast, and furnishes a fine subject for
improvement. The most interesting view of the parish is from
an eminence in Lochalsh above Strome Ferry. From this eminence,
looking to the north-east, you behold the fine expanse of Lochcarron,
presenting the appearance of a fresh water lake about 20 miles
in circumference, embosomed in hills, which at the head of the
loch rise to a considerable height. The hills surrounding the
valley appear almost to meet in their bases, and to jut towards
the loch like so many promontories

The sloping ground
of Strome, extending from the ferry, presents a series of gentle
and irregular hillocks, diversified with natural birch, ash,
and underwood, while cultivated fields frequently relieve the
eye, and behind tbis ridge, the mountains of Applecross tower
aloft, in rugged and precipitous magnificence.

In a calm summer evening,
when hundreds of boats are seen shooting their nets, and scores
of vessels lying at anchor, Lochcarron exhibits a scene of rural
felicity and of rural beauty that is seldom to be witnessed.

Soil,
etc. - The parish presents every variety
of soil. The prevailing winds are north-east and south-west.
The climate, in the opinion of the older inhabitants, has undergone
a considerable change. They allege tbat the winter has become
less severe, the summer less mild. The climate is so variable
as to render an accurate description of it impossible. The winter
is generally mild, and during its continuance vegetation is seldom
checked. The spring is usually wet, and such as greatly retards
the operations of the farmer. Early in this season, we have occasionally
storms of hail, brought by a north-west wind. In April and May,
we have keen easterly winds, with frost at night, which proves
very injurious to such fruit trees as are then in blossom. We
nave not the genial warmth of summer until the beginning of June.
The crops then make rapid progress, nature is clothed in the
beauty of summer, and when free from rain the weather is most
delightful. The weather in harvest is very changeable, and renders
the securing of the crop very troublesome and expensive. Speaking
in general, this parish, like the rest of the west coast, is
very subject to rain, from the height of the mountains and tbeir
proximity to the Atlantic. The prevalent distempers are such
as arise from damp and sudden vicissitudes of weather, such as
fevers, colds, and rheumatism. Cutaneous and scrofulous disorders
are likewise common, occasioned, probably, by poor feeding and
inattention to cleanliness.

Geology
and Mineralogy- Our mountains
are principally composed of gneiss, with smaller dasplays of
quartz rock and red sandstone. The same gneis rocks and clay
generally meet us on tbe plain. In the heights of the country,
limestone is found in beds in the gneiss, and is wrought for
agricultural purposes by the tenantry in the neighbourhood. In
Kishorn, limestone is abundant.

Hydrography - A few chalybeate springs are scattered
over different parts of the country, but they are not of such
a nature as to indicate the existence of extensive strata of
iron.

Zoology - The animals which inhabit the parish
are: deer, roe, fox, polecat, and weasel. Game, moorfowl, partridge,
plover, and ptarmigan. In our lakes, wild-duck abound, singing-birds,
thrush, lark, linnet, blackbird, and redbreast; water-birds,
gulls (they have their nests in islands in our mountain lakes),
duck, scart, curlew, sea-lark, and oyster-eater. The black eagle
builds in some of the most inaccessible rocks, but as great pains
have been taken to destroy the species, it is now rare. The kite
has his eyrie. Of migratory birds, swans visit us occasionally
in winter, wagtail in February, swallow in April, and cuckoo
about the same time.

In the river Carron,
salmon are found early in the season; but they are most numerous
in June, July, and August, during which months sea trout also
come up in considerable numbers. Forty years ago, a common fisher
could easily take with the rod twenty salmon in a day; at present,
the most experienced angler will be contented with one good fish.
Several species of fishes are taken in the Frith, but herring
may be said to be the only species of importance in an economical
point of view. The herring fishing has been unsuccessful for
the last ten years, and may now be considered rather a losing
concern, inasmuch as the profits of the few favourable seasons
can hardly counterbalance the outlays of these and other seasons,
during which a supply for home consumption is the utmost that
can be secured.

II.
CIVIL HISTORY

Impenetrable darkness
rests on the history of this distriet till within a late period.
It was for many ages the scene of the barbarous depredations
of contending clans, who, as the use of letters was little known
among them, left no other memorial of their transactions than
the dubious records of traditional poetry. At an early period,
the parish was in the possession of several chiefs, the principal
of whom was Macdonald of Glengarry, who had the Western part
at Strome. All these were gradually dispossessed by Seaforth,
Lord Kintail, who took the Castle of Strome in 1609, as recorded
in the last Statistical Account.

Not farther back than
the middle of last century, the inhabitants of this district
were involvod in the most dissolute barbarity. The records of
presbytery, which commence in 1724, are stained with accounts
of black and bloody crimes, exhibiting a picture of wildness,
ferocity, and gross indulgence, consistent only with a state
of savagism. The people, under the influence of no religion,
but, from political considerations, attached to Episcopacy, conceived
a rooted dislike to the Presbyterian system, which all the prudence
of the clergy was for some time unable to eradicate. In March
1725, we find the presbytery of Gairloch (now presbytery of Lochcarron)
obliged to hold a meeting at Kilmorack, as the presbytery, to
use the language of the record, had no access to meet in their
own bounds, since they had been rabbled at Lochalsh on 16th September
1724, that being the day appointed for a parochial visitation
there. From a petition which Mr Sage (the first Presbytenan minister
of Lochcarron, settled in 1726) presents to the presbytery in
1731 praying for an act of transportability, we see that he considered
his life often in danger; that only one family attended regularly
on his ministry, and that he despaired of being of any service
in the place. Mr Sage laboured in the place for forty-seven years.
By his prudent conduct, he gradually conciliated the affections
of the people, and mitigated the rancour of their prejudices,
and was instrumental in bringing them to a state of comparative
civilization.

Eminent
Men- About the time that Mr Sage
was settled in the parish, flourished William and Alexander Mackenzie,
brothers, the authors of some Gaelic poems. Such of the effusions
of William as have eseaped the ravages of time exhibit the dijecta
membra poetae, and serve to excite our regret that so much
has been lost. His elegy on his brother's death, in tenderness
of sentiment and felicity of expression, will not shrink from
a comparison with some of the most successful efforts of the
cultivated muse.

Antiquities - We have no monuments of
antiquity to interest the antiquarian. The ruins of Strome Castle
still remain, and on the rising ground behind Janetown, and at
Langanduin in Kishorn, we have one of those circular buildinge
or duin so frequent on the west coast.

III.
- POPULATION

The increase of population
may be principally attributed to the division of land into lots.
The village of Janetown, which at no distant period consisted
of only three families, contains now a population of nearly 500.

Baptisms and marriages
hare been regularly registered since 1819. The register kept
before that time was accidentally burnt. No register of deaths.

Number of persons under
15 years of age is . .

774

from 15 to 30

629

30 to 50

474

50 to 70

209

upwards of 70

48

Unmarried men above 50

18

women above 45

70

Number of children
in each family, 5 or perhaps 6 on an average. Insane, 3; fatuous,
4; blind, 4; deaf and dumb, 4.

Land-owners - Landed proprietors two.

Language
of the People
- The language
generally spoken is Gaelic, but English is spoken by a great
proportion of the younger people. Gaelic cannot be said to have
lost ground for the last forty years, but it has been much corrupted
by our frequent intercourse with the south, and the silly vanity
of persons, who wish it to be understood that they know something
of another language.

Habits,
etc. of the People-The
ordinary food of the peasantry is potatoes and herring twice
a-day, and oatmeal gruel for supper. Those in better circumstances
have, besides, oat cake, butter and cheese, and in winter and
spring use for dinner broth and mutton as a substitute for herring.
Of the houses, some are of turf, but the greater part of stone
frequently built with lime. The roof is covered over with turf,
above which, there is a coat of heather or ferns. There is seldom
a chimney to the houses The fire is kindled alongside of the
wall, or a stone in the centre of the room, and the smoke reeks
its way out at the roof, or door, or windows. The window generally
consist of wooden shutters, made to open at pleasure and admit
the fresh air. The floors are of clay and mud. In many houses,
the cattle are under the same roof, and even enter at the same
door with the family, and are only separated from them by a partition
of boards, wattles, or stone, having a door in the middle. As
will be readily imagined, the space between this partition and
the outer door is sometimes so dirty, that it is difficult for
him who enters to pick out a clean footing. The greater part
of the people do certainly not enjoy the comforts of society,
and they are far from being satisfied with their situation and
circumstances. Those living on the coast, particularly depending
for their subsistence upon the herring fishing, a fluctuating
and precarious employment, are frequently in a very poor condition.
But they have their lands cheaper, and are on the whole in better
circumstances than the peasantry of the neighbouring parishes.
The people are industrious and obliging. They are naturally acute,
and such as have had the advantages of education are intelligent.
With respect to religion, there is a considerable excitement,
and a considerable profession. From the practice introduced by
the late minister, of causing the people to deliver their sentiments
on religion publicly at fellowship meetings, many show a wonderful
facility in talking upon such subjects; but close observation
enables us to perceive that their knowledge is merely superficial.
To the peculiar phrases used by them, they are found to attach
no definite ideas; and if the ideas which the phrases convey
are espressed in another language, the words of which they understand,
they do not recognize them. What is most to be blamed, is a general
addiction to flattery and infidelity to engagements.

The number of illegitimate
children in the parish during the last three years was 4.

IV.
- INDUSTRY

Agriculture

Number of acres, standard imperial measure,
in the parish, which are either cultivated or occasionally in
tillage

1238

Number of acres that might, with a profitable
application of capital, be added to the cultivated land of the
parish

200

Number of acres under wood

1500

Average gross amount
of raw produce raised in the parish, as nearly as that can be
ascertained, is as follows:

Grain of all kinds, whether cultivated
for food of man or the domesticated animals

L.1620

Potatoes and turnips

2035

Hay

585

Land in pasture for cows

1250

For sheep

1500

Annual thinning and periodical felling
of woods

100

Fisheries

3000

Total yearly value of raw produce raised

L. 10,090

V.
PAROCHIAL ECONOMY

Market
Town - Means of Communication-The
nearest market town is Dingwall, 50 miles distant, but family
supplies are generally got from Inverness to which there is a
regular communication by carriers. Roads are excellent. Carriages
of all descriptions visit us. We have a post-office in Jane town,
where the mails arrive three times a week.

Ecclesiastical
State - The church
was built in 1751. It is situated in the centre of the parish,
and as the roads are good, it is pretty convenient for the greater
part of the population. It affords accommodation for upwards
of 800, but is a miserable edifice, almost unfit for the exercise
of public worship.

The glebe contains
10 arable acres, and pasture for 6 cows and 150 sheep. The stipend
is the minimum. There is no Episcopalian in the parish, and only
one Roman Catholic, a woman. The inhabitants are partial to the
establishment, but are far from being punctual in their attendance
on public worship. A catechist labours among them, paid by the
session. There are no Dissenting or Seceding families in tbe
parish.

Education- In the parochial school are
taught, Greek, Latin and all the ordinary branches of education.
The salary is the maximum, and the amount of school fees may
be about L.15. The expense of education is from 8s. to 18s. per
annum according to the branches studied. At present, there is
no Society school in the parish; children come therefore to the
parish school, from a distance of six miles. Three additional
schools are required, and they would secure an attendance of
from 30 to 70 scholars. There are at present from six to fifteen
years of age, 291, and upwards of fifteen, 693 persons who cannot
read. The people are in general alive to the benefits of education.
They are particularly anxious that a knowledge of English should
be imparted to their children, from an impression that their
temporal interests will be more certainly promoted by a familiarity
with that language.

Poor - The number of poor receiving
aid from the parochial funds is from 25 to 80. The sum allotted
to each is small. Our church collections do not amount to L.8
per annum, and there is no other mode of procuring funds besides
the fines imposed on delinquents.

Fairs - The only fair held in tbe parish is the
new Kelso market, on the first Monday of June. At one time it
was a considerable fair for cattle, but now it has dwindled into
an annual term for settling accounts and drinking whisky.

Inns -There are 2 inns in the parish,
and 2 dram-houses. The resort of the younger part of the people
to these places tends much to corrupt their morals.

Fuel - The fuel used is dried moss,
procured at no other expense than the labour of lifting it.

Miscellaneous
Observations

Since the last Account
was drawn up, considerable improvements have taken place in agriculture,
persons of skill and capital have introduced an approved system
of husbandry, and their example has been speedily followed by
the tenantry. To promote the comfort of the people, it would
be necessary to give longer leases, so as to encourage a spirit
of improvement and to let the lands at a cheaper rate, that the
produce might pay the rents without any other resource, (which
is now far from being the case), and to afford employment to
the labouring classes, by introducing judicious improvements
at the expense of the proprietors. In diffusing among them the
blessings of knowledge, much might be done by the introduction
of a more efficient system of education, by the establishment
of parochial libraries, and the circulation of cheap periodicals.

P.S. Since the above
Account was written, the church has been condemned by the presbytery,
and it is confidently expected that the heritors of Lochcarron
will erect the house of worship, to be built in its stead, in
a style worthy of the object and the situation.

The rental may be stated
at not less than L.2500.

At the death of the
late incumbent (the author of the last Statistical Account),
the glebe of Lochcarron scarcely contained 5 acres of arable
land, properly so called; 5 acres more are now in good heart;
and 10 acres are in progress of cultivation. The whole extent
of the glebe, from the loch to the top of the hill, may, at a
rough guess, be said to be two miles in length, by half a mile
in breadth; a goodly pasturage without doubt, were its nature
equal to its extent.